The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for applying a strip of material to a surface. In particular, the present invention is an apparatus for applying flying splice, pressure sensitive, adhesive tape to a leading edge of a roll of web material.
In the newspaper and magazine publishing industry, the lengths of web material (i.e., paper) from which individual newspapers or magazines are printed are contained on rolls (i.e., elongate members). Typically, the length of web material on a roll is fixed, and the web material is continuous from its trailing edge at the core of the roll to its leading edge at the periphery of the roll. The length of web material from an individual roll is fed into a printing apparatus where print and/or pictures are applied to the web material in a continuous, automated process. Next, the length of web material is cut into sheets of desired size and then these sheets are assembled into individual newspapers or magazines. The cutting of the sheets and the assembling of the sheets into their final print medium format is once again a continuous, automated process. Typically, during the continuous process of printing, cutting and assembling of the print medium, the length of web material travels at speeds of between 2000 and 3000 feet per minute. Hence, large numbers of individual newspapers or magazines can be produced in a relatively short period of time.
A disadvantage in the use of the rolls of web material occurs when splicing a leading edge of a "new" roll of web material to the trailing edge of an "old" roll of web material currently traveling through the continuous printing, cutting and assembling process. This type of new-to-old roll connection is referred to as a "flying splice," and is a splice made between an expiring or leading roll of web material and a new or following roll of web material in a continuous manner without reducing either the equipment speed or the speed of the web. Typically, to splice the leading edge of the new roll to the trailing edge of the old roll, one or more pieces of adhesive tape are manually applied to the leading edge of the new roll of web material. Adhesive, such as pressure sensitive adhesive, on a bottom surface of the tape secures the tape to the leading edge. With the tape secured to the leading edge of the new roll, the leading edge of the new roll is brought into contact with the old roll, where adhesive, such as pressure sensitive adhesive, on the top surface of the tape secures the leading edge of the new roll of web material to the trailing edge of the old roll of web material. Once the splicing process is complete, the movement of the web material of the old roll through the apparatus performing the printing, cutting and assembling process acts to continuously and automatically thread the web material of the new roll into the printing, cutting and assembling apparatus. Due to the complex and mostly manual nature of the process for applying a piece of flying splice adhesive tape to the leading edge of a roll of web material, the process is tedious, cumbersome and time consuming. Operator time to manually prepare and apply a flying splice to a leading edge of web material may range from about 4-10 minutes for small rolls such as may be used in magazine printing and 15-20 minutes for large rolls such as may be used in newspaper printing.
In addition, the hand work required by one or more people to manually apply a piece or pieces of flying splice adhesive tape to a length of web material is not conducive to the accurate positioning of the tape on the leading edge of the web material. Moreover, adhesive (particularly pressure sensitive adhesive) on the top and bottom surfaces of the flying splice adhesive tape tends to adhere to the leading edge of the web material virtually on contact, making repositioning of the tape difficult, and thereby further complicating the process of accurately aligning the tape on the leading edge of the web material. Misalignment of the flying splice adhesive tape on the leading edge of the web material may result in the leading edge of the new roll being incorrectly applied to the trailing edge of the old roll, which may cause the new web of material to be improperly threaded into the apparatus performing the printing, cutting and assembling process. Incorrect feeding of the new web material into the apparatus may cause the apparatus to seize thereby resulting in machine down time and lost production time. Apparatus for automatically applying flying splice adhesive tape to a leading edge of a roll of web material are generally known. Canadian Patent Application 2,069,247 to Norbert et al. discloses one such apparatus for preparing a leading edge of a new roll of web material for a flying splice. The apparatus of Norbert et al. includes a base plate for carrying a knife support block that extends substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the roll of web material. A cutting knife of the cutting block forms the cut leading edge of the roll of web material while a perforating blade forms a perforated region in the web material spaced from the leading edge. The cutting knife and perforating blade are parallel to one another and to the axis of rotation of the web material roll. The base plate further carries an adhesive application block for holding adhesive. The adhesive application block applies a first adhesive to a lower surface of the web material between the leading edge of the web material and the web material cuts made by the perforating blade. A connecting adhesive application roller applies a second adhesive to an upper surface of the web material adjacent the web material cuts made by the perforating blade but on a side of the cuts opposite to the first adhesive. The first adhesive secures the leading edge of web material to the next underlying layer of web material on the roll of web material. The second adhesive contacts and secures the leading edge of new roll web material to a trailing edge of an expiring roll of web material and web material separation occurs along the cuts made by the perforating blade. In operation, web material is rolled off of the roll to bring the web material into position on the splice preparation apparatus of Norbert et al. The leading edge and perforations are cut and the first and second adhesives are applied to the web material. The web material is then rewound onto the roll and the leading edge of web material is secured to the next underlying layer of web material on the roll of web material via the first adhesive. Unwinding and rewinding the web material off and on the roll may cause wrinkles and misalignment of the web material due to inadvertent and misaligned adhesion of the first adhesive to the underlying layer of web material.
Co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/112,891, filed on Aug. 27, 1993 and commonly assigned with the present application to Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company of St. Paul, Minn., discloses another apparatus for preparing a leading edge of a new roll of web material for a flying splice. The apparatus of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/112,891 includes an application frame that travels substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the roll of web material. The application frame includes a cutting blade for forming the cut leading edge of the roll of web material. The application frame further carries a tape application device for applying a flying splice pressure sensitive adhesive tape to the leading edge of the roll of web material. The application device travels in a path parallel to the path of the cutting blade such that the flying splice adhesive tape is placed uniformly along the leading edge of the roll of web material. The application device includes an application roller to apply a length of adhesive tape along the length of the leading edge of the roll of web material. A clutch mechanism applies a constant torque to the application roller to prevent a ridge of web material from building ahead of the application roller which may cause wrinkling of the adhesive tape and web material. A buffing mechanism is also carried on the application frame. The buffing mechanism is designed to contact the adhesive tape along the length of the leading edge to ensure contact between the adhesive tape and an outer layer portion of the roll of web material that is directly adjacent the leading edge. A cut off mechanism on the application frame cuts the adhesive tape subsequent to the adhesive tape being applied to the leading edge of web material.
The flying splice adhesive tape of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/112,891 includes adhesive on both sides of the adhesive tape. A first adhesive secures the leading edge of the roll of web material to the next underlying layer of web material on the roll of web material. A second adhesive contacts and secures the leading edge of new roll of web material to a trailing edge of an expiring roll of web material. The flying splice adhesive tape further includes perforations along its length such that the adhesive tape separates along the perforations when the leading edge of the new roll of web material contacts the trailing edge of the expiring roll of web material.
There is a need for an improved apparatus and a method for applying flying splice adhesive tape to a leading edge of a roll of web material. Specifically, the application apparatus should permit the adhesive tape to be applied to the leading edge of the web material quickly and with alignment accuracy when compared to prior manual and automatic procedures for applying flying splice adhesive tape. The application method should prevent the creation of wrinkles in the web material as the adhesive tape is applied. In addition, the application method should not be hand work intensive, cumbersome or tedious when compared to prior manual and automatic methods for applying splice tape to the leading edge of a length of web material.